Wibit in Kelowna.

(KATHY MICHAELS / iNFOnews.ca)

KELOWNA - Smoke has yet to waft into the valley, but the memory of it is still stifling some Okanagan tourism operators who have noticed a slow flow of travellers through their doors.

One of them is Riley Gallagher who owns the inflatable Wibit in Osoyoos, Penticton and Kelowna.

“We may need a good summer to bounce back fully,” Gallagher said. “A lot of people are more reserved about coming to spend their holidays here. I think we’re down a little bit because of the last couple of years.”

That said, there have been efforts to battle any tentative travelling patterns.

“All the municipalities have been good at bringing in events and populating the area with tourism (activities) for young families and moving out some of the events that are party-oriented and not fully stimulating to the area.”

These are steps in the right direction, he said, adding that the valley’s tourism will always be reliant on weather, which warmed slowly this summer.

Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon recently said Kelowna had a wetter than normal July, with 14 more millimetres of precipitation falling than usual for the month. Most other areas were within the normal range.

Temperatures strayed away from extremes also, with measurement staying a degree or two of around normal most days.

“We haven’t seen the building of a strong ridge of high pressure since summer started,” Sekhon said.

The long weekend is expected to bring the heat and that’s good because this is the unofficial start to summer for Gallagher.

“Typically with a seasonal business, the last week of July and last two weeks of August are when we hope to get the most business,” he said.

“Given that the smoke has held off, we’re really happy,” he said.

Even with years of poor weather, the Wibit business is still strong. So much so that Gallagher has expanded on Penticton and Kelowna's structures and there are plans, although far from being actualized, to put one in another city.

“It’s a fun business to be in. It’s three months of operations and we employ 75 locals, mostly students during that time,” he said. “There are ups and downs, but it’s been great overall.”

The Wibit, he’s learned, has gone a good distance to livening up things in areas where it’s built.

“We’re at the north end of the park in Kelowna, and the first couple of years we worked hard to improve the image of the area and attract young families,” he said, noting that they’ve increased the size to meet the demand and another big expansion is expected next year. 

Now, he said, it’s bustling.

The same goes for Penticton, where it drew crowds to a less populated corner of the beach.

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